Lane's Corner - One Tech's Blog

Lane Sparber · 12-20-2010, 05:52 AM

Hello again, everyone!

After seeing several posts about shielding your guitar and the various methods involved (as well as being asked directly to contribute my methods), I thought I’d share a step-by-step detailed analysis of how I perform this job in my shop. My way is NOT the only way to do this job - it’s just the method that I personally use and has worked best for me as I developed it over time. Recently, I was given a noisy mongrel guitar (based on a Fender Jaguar…sort of) that had two AWESOME sounding P-90 pickups in it but was excessively noisy. Time for a shielding job!

For your collective consideration, I'd like to insert a quick word on what shielding will and will not do. It WILL block almost all RF interference if done correctly, as we’re in effect forming a Faraday cage around all of the guitar’s internal components. This silences the guitar to a considerable degree…even on humbucker equipped instruments. If you do your job right, you may even disconnect the ground wire to the bridge, as it will serve no purpose anymore. That being said, I usually do leave it connected as a personal preference. There should be no more annoying buzz when you take your fingers off of the strings, and the signal-to-noise ratio will be drastically improved. What shielding WON’T do is remove the 60 cycle hum completely from single coil pickups…that’s just not possible. However there will be a DRASTIC reduction of noise, so this process is, of course, especially effective on Strats and single coil equipped guitars. Also, this process is non-reversible if you use shielding paint, so that's also a consideration on vintage instruments (although Stevie Ray Vaughan had all of his Strats shielded in this manner...so there's an endorsement for you!).

A lot of guitars come from the factory with no shielding at all, or sub-standard work that will not accomplish much of anything. For maximum effectiveness, ALL control cavities, control cavity covers and pickuguards must be uniformly coated with either shielding paint (a special paint that actually conducts electricity) or aluminum/copper foil tape and then connected to ground. The supplies we need are pretty basic. First, we’ll need shielding paint, obviously. I get mine from Stewart MacDonald Guitar Shop Supply (it’s water based, so cleanup is fairly easy). Keep some wet and dry paper towels handy in case you go outside the lines for cleanup. You can find the paint here, or on eBay:

STEWMAC.COM : Conductive Shielding Paint

I have an old roll of aluminum foil tape that I use, but Stew-Mac sells great copper tape here:

STEWMAC.COM : Conductive Copper Tape

You’ll also need a couple of junk paintbrushes to apply the paint, and keep them ONLY for this purpose.

Also, I use a #11 eXacto blade to trim the foil once it’s on the pickguard/control cavity cover.

Here’s a pic of my main shielding tools:

Additionally, you may need ground lugs, wire, drill and short wood screws (I’ll describe when and why you may need these below).

Now, as a rule I ONLY use the foil tape for pickguards and control cavity covers, NOT the cavities themselves, although many people use the foil there too. My issue with doing it that way is that the foil tape can come loose from the cavity walls overt time and short out the guitar. Also, it’s VERY time consuming to cut, paste and solder all of that foil. Although the shielding paint requires two coats and must dry overnight after each coat, the actual labor time involved is under an hour once you get it down.

Here’s the body of the subject we’re dealing with today. Note that ABSOLUTELY NO shielding inside the body has been done at the factory. The remaining wire inside is the ground to bridge, which, as I said, I leave in, although you can remove it once the shielding job is complete.

Here’s the pickguard…note the minimal aluminum foil applied to the back of the guard…just enough to cover the components, but NOT the rest of the electronics routing below it - or even the pickup selector switch (already removed here) to the left:

First, I paint the first coat of shielding paint into the guitar body, and ALL cavities (front or back) that contain electronics get shielded. TAKE YOUR TIME AND HAVE PATIENCE!! Neatness counts – especially on something like a J Bass where the back pickup has no pickguard over the rear pickup to cover your mess. Here we are after the first coat while the paint is still wet:

Now on to the pickguard. I am only going to shield the bottom 1/3 or so of this pickguard. The portions of the ‘guard that just lie flat against the body don’t need to be shielded for obvious reasons. We only need to concern ourselves with what goes over the electronics. I lay the guard over a scrap piece of cardboard and apply the tape. Once that’s done, I trim the excess foil tape GENTLY along the edges and all of the holes in the guard with the eXacto blade. Here’s the pickguard with it’s new shielding job (and the sloppy factory lead dress cleaned up considerably):

If you have a Strat or P Bass, complete pickguard shields are readily available online, and you can skip this step entirely. You can find them here:

Pickguard Shield at Guitar Center. | Search Results

Once the second coat is in and all paint is dry, any cavities not directly connected to the main cavity need to be connected to ground. For example, a typical Strat uses one big rout, so you won’t need this step. Our subject guitar here has two pickup routs that are separate from the main rout, so this guitar will need two of these additional ground wires. For this purpose, I assemble lugs that are crimped AND soldered to new ground wires, and then I screw them into the base of the cavity itself. Finally, I run those wires directly to ground connections on the pots. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL HERE. If you use screws that are too long, you can go through the back of the guitar with them, so measure carefully and then measure again. Also, drilling pilot holes for these screws is highly recommended. Here’s a picture of this step completed:

Now, the main cavity needs to be connected directly to ground as well. This can be done three ways: 1) Use a grounding lug screwed into the body as we did above, 2) Paint up onto the guitar body’s face with some extra paint in a manner that connects to the pickguard’s foil shield, or 3) take a strip of your foil tape and overlap it onto the guitar’s top where it will contact the pickguard's shielding tape. I usually choose option 3 to save drilling another hole or painting onto the guitar’s face:

Finally, wire it all together and test fit it all together to make sure nothing’s touching the control cavity walls and shorting out. Plug it in and test all functions and switches to make sure everything works as it should. Here’s this guitar wired up and ready for test fitting:

All assembled here. It’s passed all noise tests, wiring tests, and is ready for the neck to be re-attached and it's final set up:

Here we are…all ready to go back to the customer!

Anyway, I hope some of you found this informative, and I invite one and all to share their questions, tips, individual methods, rants, and tricks below. Happy shielding…and, most importantly, HAVE FUN WITH IT!

-Lane

Lespaulnmarshall · 12-20-2010, 06:23 AM

Thanks!!! This thread should become a sticky just like the wax potting thread.

IbanezMark · 12-20-2010, 08:27 AM

Thanks Lane!

Lane Sparber · 12-20-2010, 10:53 AM

Thanks, guys!

Just doing as I was asked.

Cheers!

-Lane

Alabama Thunderpussy · 12-20-2010, 11:02 AM

Awesome post! I shielded the inside of my LP's cavity with the aluminum shielding that already had the adhesive on it. I love that stuff.

thetragichero · 12-20-2010, 11:23 AM

i use the copper foil tape with the conductive adhesive
when i do the body, i'll leave a little lip over the top edge to make sure it'll come into contact with the foil on the pickguard
generally, i'll also star ground all of the ground wires to one of the pickguard screws

ckr1231 · 12-20-2010, 11:27 AM

What affect does it have on Controllable feedback? Does it make it harder to derive the feedback?

cagamp1 · 12-20-2010, 11:28 AM

Great tutorial Lane!

Lane Sparber · 12-20-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckr1231

What affect does it have on Controllable feedback? Does it make it harder to derive the feedback?

It has no effect on controllable feedback, other than to provide a lower noise floor for the notes to swell from. RF interference and controllable feedback are two separate things.

-Lane

MM54 · 12-21-2010, 07:38 PM

Fantastic job, Lane! Once I get some money in the bank after christmas I'll definitely be shielding my LP... it's rather noisy. Maybe I'll do my Cort, too. It's not as bad, but could be quieter.

Thanks!

Australian · 12-21-2010, 09:38 PM

a great thread. thanks.

wkcchampion · 12-22-2010, 01:57 AM

Cool. IS it useful for humbuckers too?

Lane Sparber · 12-22-2010, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wkcchampion

Cool. IS it useful for humbuckers too?

It's useful for any guitar, really. It just quiets down humbucker-equipped guitars even further.

-Lane

rustyrat · 12-22-2010, 08:44 AM

question: none of my guitars buzz at all. My amp is dead quiet even at high gain and volume. Not sure I understand this. I dont even understand waxing the pups. I have never had this type of issue. Could someone enlighten me, maybe I'm missing something or just deaf!
Thanks
RR

Lane Sparber · 12-22-2010, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rustyrat

question: none of my guitars buzz at all. My amp is dead quiet even at high gain and volume. Not sure I understand this. I dont even understand waxing the pups. I have never had this type of issue. Could someone enlighten me, maybe I'm missing something or just deaf!
Thanks
RR

Don't know what to tell you, other than ENJOY IT! If your rig is quiet and you are happy with it, don't do anything to it...or worry about it. Rock on!

-Lane

rustyrat · 12-22-2010, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lane Sparber

Don't know what to tell you, other than ENJOY IT! If your rig is quiet and you are happy with it, don't do anything to it...or worry about it. Rock on!

-Lane

Thanks Lane!

RR

ckr1231 · 12-24-2010, 06:18 PM

Should the back spring cavity of a Strat be shielded as well ?

thrawn86 · 12-24-2010, 06:59 PM

Great topic Lane. You're a class act here on the Forum.

Lane Sparber · 12-25-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckr1231

Should the back spring cavity of a Strat be shielded as well ?

Not at all. There are no electronics or anything connected to the "hot" lead back there, just the wire to the spring claw for the bridge ground. Thus, you can forget about shielding that one.

@Thrawn - THANKS MAN! That's quite the compliment, and not taken lightly!

-Lane

ckr1231 · 12-25-2010, 07:26 PM

Thank you, sir. Awesome thread !!!!!

Georgiatec · 12-26-2010, 12:16 PM

Lane...you are a top guy...cue the next job on my Strats next time I change the strings...the ones with vintage noiseless pups in are pretty quiet, but from what you say it's a no lose situation to do it anyway.

DSL100 Dude · 12-26-2010, 02:35 PM

Excellent post!
Thanks for contributing this. What a great tutorial for us DIY guys. I have a Strat that I look forward to trying this out on.

Lane Sparber · 12-26-2010, 05:23 PM

Thanks again for the compliments!! That reminds me, guys...if you do your Strats, think twice about shielding the small oval cavity where the jack sits. If you do so, upon re-installation, you'll have to carefully rotate the actual jack in it's holder until it doesn't make any contact with the side walls. These jacks sometimes contact the sides of the cavity when a cable is inserted, which will then short out once the hot lug touches the now grounded sides of the cavity.

Cheers!

All4Tone · 12-28-2010, 08:36 AM

Well, I went on a quest yesterday to find something to shield one of my strats with and if you want to see a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look, just go into Home Depot and ask if they have any shielding paint..

I ended up just buying some aluminum foil tape - 175 feet of it actually!

I grabbed a MIM Strat and just loosened the strings and held them up off the fretboard by stuffing a small block of wood under them at the 12th fret. I then removed the screws for the pickguard and lifted it out carefully and set it aside.

The next bit was actually way easier than I thought it would be, but I tore pieces of the tape off the roll and peeled the backing off and just started meticulously laying it on all inside surfaces of the cavities.

I did all surfaces of all cavities on the front of the guitar, then used a DMM to test for continuity from any 2 points on the foil. It was all electrically connected, which kind of surprised me, as there is the adhesive on the foil. Once I was all done with the tape, I ran a piece of bare copper wire between all the cavities and taped it down with the foil tape, so it's pretty much invisible, but everything is very positively connected, even though I already confirmed that with the meter.

The pickguard on this guitar is one of those really cheap, but amazingly good Dragonfire loaded pickguards (there's another whole discussion for you) and they do a much better job of shielding than most factory shielding attempts, but I added more in various places on the pickguard. I never swap pickups btw, just whole pickguards, it's way quicker and easier and I can preload it any way I like on the bench, then swap it in 5 minutes.

I used a piece of duct tape on the inside of the oval jack cavity, on top of the foil tape, just to avoid the situation described above with the jack or plug shorting out on the foil.

In a couple of spots on either side of the guitar, I let the shielding go very slightly up onto the face of the guitar (like about 1mm), so the pickguard shielding would contact it in a few places, even though that is probably not really necessary.

After I reassembled and tuned it up, here is what I found.

No RF picked up by any pups, but that 60hz hum that we all know and love with single coils is still there and no amount of shielding will stop that.

The humbucker in the bridge and the positions 2 and 4 on the pup selector switch (the paired pups are wired out of phase) is dead quiet now, but to be honest, it always was, so did I gain anything? Probably, but on my next one, I'll do before and after recordings and photos.

Lane, thanks again, you've inspired me to attack this issue on a few of my guitars..

Lane Sparber · 12-30-2010, 04:01 AM

Wow! Thanks for the detailed report. Shielding is supposed to JUST get rid of the RF hum as I said above, and the 60 cycle hum will always be there. You should find that you can let go of the strings now completely and there will be no more buzz when you do, as well as a quieter noise floor over all.

Congrats!

-Lane

diesect20022000 · 12-30-2010, 04:42 AM

great tips as usual! I have been shielding for awhile but, it's nice to see some things i may have mossed and the paint shielding's one i have yet to apply.

Dirt Rich · 12-31-2010, 12:08 AM

Thanks for the great tutorial! Looks like a have a few guitars to tear apart...

Lane Sparber · 01-25-2011, 10:04 AM

Hey, folks!

With all of the other techs around here routinely posting awesome examples of their work (JCM, Major, Wilder, Joey, Alabama, etc.), it has made me realize that, other than a couple of how-to threads, I have been sadly deficient in this area.

So, to that end, it's time to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Below is a link to the "Lane's Workshop" photo album on my Facebook page. It's a public link, so it should work (I hope). While this by no means represents EVERYTHING that's come through my shop in the last few months - I am far too lazy to photograph every piece of gear that I work on - I feel it's a pretty accurate representation of what I've been up to in my basement recently. It's my intention to update this fairly regularly, so please feel free to check back periodically for new exploits!

Happy browsing!

Link:

Lane's Workshop | Facebook

-Lane

Joey Voltage · 01-25-2011, 11:06 AM

You run a tight ship there Lane.

TwinACStacks · 01-25-2011, 11:15 AM

VERY cool Pics Bro. I work on my amps on top of my washing machine in the Basement, I wouldn't know how to act with a workbench....

TWIN

12-20-2010, 05:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
Lane Sparber Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Queens, New York Posts: 2,505	Lane's Corner - One Tech's Blog Hello again, everyone! After seeing several posts about shielding your guitar and the various methods involved (as well as being asked directly to contribute my methods), I thought I’d share a step-by-step detailed analysis of how I perform this job in my shop. My way is NOT the only way to do this job - it’s just the method that I personally use and has worked best for me as I developed it over time. Recently, I was given a noisy mongrel guitar (based on a Fender Jaguar…sort of) that had two AWESOME sounding P-90 pickups in it but was excessively noisy. Time for a shielding job! For your collective consideration, I'd like to insert a quick word on what shielding will and will not do. It WILL block almost all RF interference if done correctly, as we’re in effect forming a Faraday cage around all of the guitar’s internal components. This silences the guitar to a considerable degree…even on humbucker equipped instruments. If you do your job right, you may even disconnect the ground wire to the bridge, as it will serve no purpose anymore. That being said, I usually do leave it connected as a personal preference. There should be no more annoying buzz when you take your fingers off of the strings, and the signal-to-noise ratio will be drastically improved. What shielding WON’T do is remove the 60 cycle hum completely from single coil pickups…that’s just not possible. However there will be a DRASTIC reduction of noise, so this process is, of course, especially effective on Strats and single coil equipped guitars. Also, this process is non-reversible if you use shielding paint, so that's also a consideration on vintage instruments (although Stevie Ray Vaughan had all of his Strats shielded in this manner...so there's an endorsement for you!). A lot of guitars come from the factory with no shielding at all, or sub-standard work that will not accomplish much of anything. For maximum effectiveness, ALL control cavities, control cavity covers and pickuguards must be uniformly coated with either shielding paint (a special paint that actually conducts electricity) or aluminum/copper foil tape and then connected to ground. The supplies we need are pretty basic. First, we’ll need shielding paint, obviously. I get mine from Stewart MacDonald Guitar Shop Supply (it’s water based, so cleanup is fairly easy). Keep some wet and dry paper towels handy in case you go outside the lines for cleanup. You can find the paint here, or on eBay: STEWMAC.COM : Conductive Shielding Paint I have an old roll of aluminum foil tape that I use, but Stew-Mac sells great copper tape here: STEWMAC.COM : Conductive Copper Tape You’ll also need a couple of junk paintbrushes to apply the paint, and keep them ONLY for this purpose. Also, I use a #11 eXacto blade to trim the foil once it’s on the pickguard/control cavity cover. Here’s a pic of my main shielding tools: Additionally, you may need ground lugs, wire, drill and short wood screws (I’ll describe when and why you may need these below). Now, as a rule I ONLY use the foil tape for pickguards and control cavity covers, NOT the cavities themselves, although many people use the foil there too. My issue with doing it that way is that the foil tape can come loose from the cavity walls overt time and short out the guitar. Also, it’s VERY time consuming to cut, paste and solder all of that foil. Although the shielding paint requires two coats and must dry overnight after each coat, the actual labor time involved is under an hour once you get it down. Here’s the body of the subject we’re dealing with today. Note that ABSOLUTELY NO shielding inside the body has been done at the factory. The remaining wire inside is the ground to bridge, which, as I said, I leave in, although you can remove it once the shielding job is complete. Here’s the pickguard…note the minimal aluminum foil applied to the back of the guard…just enough to cover the components, but NOT the rest of the electronics routing below it - or even the pickup selector switch (already removed here) to the left: First, I paint the first coat of shielding paint into the guitar body, and ALL cavities (front or back) that contain electronics get shielded. TAKE YOUR TIME AND HAVE PATIENCE!! Neatness counts – especially on something like a J Bass where the back pickup has no pickguard over the rear pickup to cover your mess. Here we are after the first coat while the paint is still wet: Now on to the pickguard. I am only going to shield the bottom 1/3 or so of this pickguard. The portions of the ‘guard that just lie flat against the body don’t need to be shielded for obvious reasons. We only need to concern ourselves with what goes over the electronics. I lay the guard over a scrap piece of cardboard and apply the tape. Once that’s done, I trim the excess foil tape GENTLY along the edges and all of the holes in the guard with the eXacto blade. Here’s the pickguard with it’s new shielding job (and the sloppy factory lead dress cleaned up considerably): If you have a Strat or P Bass, complete pickguard shields are readily available online, and you can skip this step entirely. You can find them here: Pickguard Shield at Guitar Center. \| Search Results Once the second coat is in and all paint is dry, any cavities not directly connected to the main cavity need to be connected to ground. For example, a typical Strat uses one big rout, so you won’t need this step. Our subject guitar here has two pickup routs that are separate from the main rout, so this guitar will need two of these additional ground wires. For this purpose, I assemble lugs that are crimped AND soldered to new ground wires, and then I screw them into the base of the cavity itself. Finally, I run those wires directly to ground connections on the pots. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL HERE. If you use screws that are too long, you can go through the back of the guitar with them, so measure carefully and then measure again. Also, drilling pilot holes for these screws is highly recommended. Here’s a picture of this step completed: Now, the main cavity needs to be connected directly to ground as well. This can be done three ways: 1) Use a grounding lug screwed into the body as we did above, 2) Paint up onto the guitar body’s face with some extra paint in a manner that connects to the pickguard’s foil shield, or 3) take a strip of your foil tape and overlap it onto the guitar’s top where it will contact the pickguard's shielding tape. I usually choose option 3 to save drilling another hole or painting onto the guitar’s face: Finally, wire it all together and test fit it all together to make sure nothing’s touching the control cavity walls and shorting out. Plug it in and test all functions and switches to make sure everything works as it should. Here’s this guitar wired up and ready for test fitting: All assembled here. It’s passed all noise tests, wiring tests, and is ready for the neck to be re-attached and it's final set up: Here we are…all ready to go back to the customer! Anyway, I hope some of you found this informative, and I invite one and all to share their questions, tips, individual methods, rants, and tricks below. Happy shielding…and, most importantly, HAVE FUN WITH IT! -Lane Wiseblood, JayCM800, Guitarmike000 and 1 others like this. __________________ New York Guitar and Amp Tech...and NOT a guru! WARNING: Tube amps contain LETHAL voltages long after they've been unplugged. If you are not familiar with the safety procedures involved when working on high voltage circuits (such as how to safely drain the filter caps), then PLEASE take it to a tech to stay safe...and alive. Some of what I do (log in to Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4798875&type=3

12-20-2010, 06:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lespaulnmarshall Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Burning hell Posts: 5,576	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thanks!!! This thread should become a sticky just like the wax potting thread. __________________ 1987x .Every guitarist should have experienced it at least once

12-20-2010, 08:27 AM	#3 (permalink)
IbanezMark Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 7,176	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thanks Lane!

12-20-2010, 10:53 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lane Sparber Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Queens, New York Posts: 2,505	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thanks, guys! Just doing as I was asked. Cheers! -Lane Guitarmike000 likes this. __________________ New York Guitar and Amp Tech...and NOT a guru! WARNING: Tube amps contain LETHAL voltages long after they've been unplugged. If you are not familiar with the safety procedures involved when working on high voltage circuits (such as how to safely drain the filter caps), then PLEASE take it to a tech to stay safe...and alive. Some of what I do (log in to Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4798875&type=3

12-20-2010, 11:02 AM	#5 (permalink)
Alabama Thunderpussy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Northern CA Posts: 1,367	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Awesome post! I shielded the inside of my LP's cavity with the aluminum shielding that already had the adhesive on it. I love that stuff.

Today
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12-20-2010, 11:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
ckr1231 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell !!! Posts: 634	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! What affect does it have on Controllable feedback? Does it make it harder to derive the feedback?

12-20-2010, 11:28 AM	#8 (permalink)
cagamp1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 667	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Great tutorial Lane!

12-21-2010, 07:38 PM	#10 (permalink)
MM54 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 7,809	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Fantastic job, Lane! Once I get some money in the bank after christmas I'll definitely be shielding my LP... it's rather noisy. Maybe I'll do my Cort, too. It's not as bad, but could be quieter. Thanks! __________________ -Matt If you don't understand what I'm saying, assume I'm making a joke. Trust me. Lachesky Amplifiers - Home of the CA10 Orders for 2013 CA10s are now being accepted! "... And I come from a place where they drag your hopes through the mud because their own dreams are all dying"

12-21-2010, 09:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
Australian Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 9,413	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! a great thread. thanks. __________________ .................... 1971-JMP 1959 1977- JMP 1959 1982-JCM800 2203 1989-JCM800 2205 Silver Jub 2550 30th Ann-6100 2007-JVM410 Super JTM/100JH 2008-1959RR .................... Soldano Hotrod 100+ Boogie Mark V Marshall cabs AHW+BHW; AX+BX; White A/GT75's+B/V30's; JCM800 A+B/preRolas; Hendrix A+B/G12C's; Classic/G12M's; Classic/G12h30's; JCM800 B/G12-65's; 1936/V30's; 1936/G1265's; 425B "Action is the antidote to despair"- Joan Baez

12-22-2010, 01:57 AM	#12 (permalink)
wkcchampion Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Italy Posts: 2,241	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Cool. IS it useful for humbuckers too? __________________ *Marco* http://pregnosplatter.altervista.org/index.html The Brown Sound is HERE: http://www.marshallforum.com/cellar/...ally-here.html Marshall gear : - JMP-1 midi valve preamp - 1981 JCM800 1959 SuperLead - 1983 JCM800 2203 - 1987 Silver Jubilee 2555 - 1969 Basketweave replica with Celestion Pre-Rola G12M 25W T1221 Guitars: 2008 Parker Fly Mojo, 1995 Fly Deluxe "Eldy", 1959 pre-CBS Strat and 1993 ObG 1959 Les Paul replica

12-22-2010, 08:44 AM	#14 (permalink)
rustyrat Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ithaca Posts: 136	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! question: none of my guitars buzz at all. My amp is dead quiet even at high gain and volume. Not sure I understand this. I dont even understand waxing the pups. I have never had this type of issue. Could someone enlighten me, maybe I'm missing something or just deaf! Thanks RR

12-24-2010, 06:18 PM	#17 (permalink)
ckr1231 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell !!! Posts: 634	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Should the back spring cavity of a Strat be shielded as well ?

12-24-2010, 06:59 PM	#18 (permalink)
thrawn86 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 7,657	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Great topic Lane. You're a class act here on the Forum. Wiseblood, JayCM800 and 61rocker like this. __________________ -Martimus Maximus Tone Packs - MHD Pickups - OFA Pedals-

12-25-2010, 07:26 PM	#20 (permalink)
ckr1231 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell !!! Posts: 634	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thank you, sir. Awesome thread !!!!!

12-26-2010, 12:16 PM	#21 (permalink)
Georgiatec Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Macclesfield, UK Posts: 2,089	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Lane...you are a top guy...cue the next job on my Strats next time I change the strings...the ones with vintage noiseless pups in are pretty quiet, but from what you say it's a no lose situation to do it anyway.

12-26-2010, 05:23 PM	#23 (permalink)
Lane Sparber Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Queens, New York Posts: 2,505	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thanks again for the compliments!! That reminds me, guys...if you do your Strats, think twice about shielding the small oval cavity where the jack sits. If you do so, upon re-installation, you'll have to carefully rotate the actual jack in it's holder until it doesn't make any contact with the side walls. These jacks sometimes contact the sides of the cavity when a cable is inserted, which will then short out once the hot lug touches the now grounded sides of the cavity. Cheers! __________________ New York Guitar and Amp Tech...and NOT a guru! WARNING: Tube amps contain LETHAL voltages long after they've been unplugged. If you are not familiar with the safety procedures involved when working on high voltage circuits (such as how to safely drain the filter caps), then PLEASE take it to a tech to stay safe...and alive. Some of what I do (log in to Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4798875&type=3

12-28-2010, 08:36 AM	#24 (permalink)
All4Tone Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 293	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Well, I went on a quest yesterday to find something to shield one of my strats with and if you want to see a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look, just go into Home Depot and ask if they have any shielding paint.. I ended up just buying some aluminum foil tape - 175 feet of it actually! I grabbed a MIM Strat and just loosened the strings and held them up off the fretboard by stuffing a small block of wood under them at the 12th fret. I then removed the screws for the pickguard and lifted it out carefully and set it aside. The next bit was actually way easier than I thought it would be, but I tore pieces of the tape off the roll and peeled the backing off and just started meticulously laying it on all inside surfaces of the cavities. I did all surfaces of all cavities on the front of the guitar, then used a DMM to test for continuity from any 2 points on the foil. It was all electrically connected, which kind of surprised me, as there is the adhesive on the foil. Once I was all done with the tape, I ran a piece of bare copper wire between all the cavities and taped it down with the foil tape, so it's pretty much invisible, but everything is very positively connected, even though I already confirmed that with the meter. The pickguard on this guitar is one of those really cheap, but amazingly good Dragonfire loaded pickguards (there's another whole discussion for you) and they do a much better job of shielding than most factory shielding attempts, but I added more in various places on the pickguard. I never swap pickups btw, just whole pickguards, it's way quicker and easier and I can preload it any way I like on the bench, then swap it in 5 minutes. I used a piece of duct tape on the inside of the oval jack cavity, on top of the foil tape, just to avoid the situation described above with the jack or plug shorting out on the foil. In a couple of spots on either side of the guitar, I let the shielding go very slightly up onto the face of the guitar (like about 1mm), so the pickguard shielding would contact it in a few places, even though that is probably not really necessary. After I reassembled and tuned it up, here is what I found. No RF picked up by any pups, but that 60hz hum that we all know and love with single coils is still there and no amount of shielding will stop that. The humbucker in the bridge and the positions 2 and 4 on the pup selector switch (the paired pups are wired out of phase) is dead quiet now, but to be honest, it always was, so did I gain anything? Probably, but on my next one, I'll do before and after recordings and photos. Lane, thanks again, you've inspired me to attack this issue on a few of my guitars.. Last edited by All4Tone; 12-29-2010 at 11:40 PM.

12-30-2010, 04:01 AM	#25 (permalink)
Lane Sparber Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Queens, New York Posts: 2,505	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Wow! Thanks for the detailed report. Shielding is supposed to JUST get rid of the RF hum as I said above, and the 60 cycle hum will always be there. You should find that you can let go of the strings now completely and there will be no more buzz when you do, as well as a quieter noise floor over all. Congrats! -Lane __________________ New York Guitar and Amp Tech...and NOT a guru! WARNING: Tube amps contain LETHAL voltages long after they've been unplugged. If you are not familiar with the safety procedures involved when working on high voltage circuits (such as how to safely drain the filter caps), then PLEASE take it to a tech to stay safe...and alive. Some of what I do (log in to Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4798875&type=3

12-30-2010, 04:42 AM	#26 (permalink)
diesect20022000 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 16,628	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! great tips as usual! I have been shielding for awhile but, it's nice to see some things i may have mossed and the paint shielding's one i have yet to apply. __________________ http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/p...ies_040213.pdf

12-31-2010, 12:08 AM	#27 (permalink)
Dirt Rich Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 46	Re: Shielding Your Guitar - One Tech's Methods - With Photos! Thanks for the great tutorial! Looks like a have a few guitars to tear apart...

01-25-2011, 10:04 AM	#28 (permalink)
Lane Sparber Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Queens, New York Posts: 2,505	A Few Months in the Life Of... Hey, folks! With all of the other techs around here routinely posting awesome examples of their work (JCM, Major, Wilder, Joey, Alabama, etc.), it has made me realize that, other than a couple of how-to threads, I have been sadly deficient in this area. So, to that end, it's time to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Below is a link to the "Lane's Workshop" photo album on my Facebook page. It's a public link, so it should work (I hope). While this by no means represents EVERYTHING that's come through my shop in the last few months - I am far too lazy to photograph every piece of gear that I work on - I feel it's a pretty accurate representation of what I've been up to in my basement recently. It's my intention to update this fairly regularly, so please feel free to check back periodically for new exploits! Happy browsing! Link: Lane's Workshop \| Facebook -Lane __________________ New York Guitar and Amp Tech...and NOT a guru! WARNING: Tube amps contain LETHAL voltages long after they've been unplugged. If you are not familiar with the safety procedures involved when working on high voltage circuits (such as how to safely drain the filter caps), then PLEASE take it to a tech to stay safe...and alive. Some of what I do (log in to Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...4798875&type=3

01-25-2011, 11:06 AM	#29 (permalink)
Joey Voltage Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Brighton, MA Posts: 1,690	Re: A Few Months in the Life Of... You run a tight ship there Lane.

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